House Speaker Nancy Pelosi will make a stop in Taiwan during her official trip to Asia this week despite threats from Chinese state media and warnings against such a stop from the White House, per new reporting Monday afternoon.
The confirmation of a Pelosi stopover in Taiwan was confirmed to POLITICO via "a congressional official and a Taiwanese official familiar with the itinerary."
Previously, Chinese state media threatened to shoot Pelosi's U.S. military aircraft out of the sky and warned that a visit would "ignite the powder keg of the situation in the Taiwan Straits."
If Pelosi really visits Taiwan as planned, the Tsai Ing-wen authorities are accomplice. The mainland will definitely carry out severe punishment actions on Taiwan at the same time. The unbearable consequences will fall on Tsai authorities. https://t.co/HJKall7AiR
— Hu Xijin ??? (@HuXijin_GT) July 30, 2022
Pelosi is in Singapore and will fly to South Korea, en route Taiwan, after visiting Malaysia. The PLA has clearly been well prepared. If she dares to stop in Taiwan, it will be the moment to ignite the powder keg of the situation in the Taiwan Straits. pic.twitter.com/EVxyD87c11
— Hu Xijin ??? (@HuXijin_GT) August 1, 2022
For her part, Pelosi refused to comment on where she'd be stopping during her trip when asked in her Friday press conference. She cited "security" for members of Congress traveling abroad, but announcing exactly where she'd go — especially Taiwan — would have given China even more of an excuse to escalate its threatening rhetoric.
On Monday, the Chinese military also released a propaganda video while Pelosi was in the region, starting out in Singapore then heading for previously announced stops in Malaysia, South Korea, and Japan.
NOW - China's People's Liberation Army just posted a new video on WeChat ahead of Pelosi's potential visit to Taiwan.pic.twitter.com/QaiFcdGCn1
— Disclose.tv (@disclosetv) August 1, 2022
Pelosi's visit to Taiwan will make the House Speaker the highest-ranking official to visit Taiwan in decades, and the first person in her position to stop on the island nation since Newt Gingrich in 1997.
As Townhall reported over the weekend, it seems to be something of an open secret on Capitol Hill that the White House itself leaked Pelosi's plan to stop in Taiwan to Beijing, an official visit that was discouraged by Biden and others in his administration.
In the days leading up to her trip, the prospect of Speaker Pelosi bowing to pressure from China over the free movement of the #3 U.S. government official was seen as unpalatable for many. If Pelosi does follow through on the plans cited by staff on Monday, she'll be showing a tougher attitude toward China than Biden has in years. For those keeping track at home, Biden tried to have China talk Putin out of invading Ukraine — a monthslong attempt that saw China take intel from the U.S. and share it directly with Russia.
Now all that remains to be seen is how the Chinese Communist Party reacts, and whether their saber-rattling was anything more than angry blustering. With President Xi Jinping seeking a rare third term in the fall, it seems unlikely that he'll want to launch a significant escalation of its harassment toward Taiwan before securing victory for himself.